Month: May 2004

Breakfast was two cups of coffee and a bowl of cold cereal. I weighed 157 pounds.

At the office I had a cup of coffee and later a cup of green tea.

I walked downtown to meet an old friend for lunch. We went to Back Yard Burgers and I had a Bacon Mushroom Burger, waffle fries, and a Dr. Pepper. The walk was about three miles, round trip.

I had a PayDay Bar at the office in the afternoon.

Dinner was a Steak Salad, a slice of Raisin Bread that Gretchen made today, and two glasses of Walnut Crest Sauvignon Blanc.

A few days ago I mentioned that I had gotten a university fitness membership and was going to start working out. Well, yesterday, for the first time… since the mid-eighties, I went and worked out. I used mostly the Nautilus equipment since they have a lot of it and it is what I am familiar with. Here is what I did. (By the way, if this isn’t interesting to you, too bad. It’s my journal. )

1. 5 minute warm-up on the Schwinn Airdyne
2. 12 repetitions at 60 on the Nautilus Bench
3. 8 repetitions at 80 on the Nautilus Fly
4. 12 repetitions at 100 on the Nautilus Pulldown
5. 12 repetitions at 60 on the Nautilus Pullover
6. 12 repetitions at 2 on the Hoist Seated Shoulder Press
7. 12 repetitions at 4 on the Hoist Seated Leg Press
8. 12 repetitions at 50 on the Nautilus Calf Curl
9. 12 repetitions at 60 on the Nautilus Leg Extension
10. 12 repetitions at 100 on the Nautilus Calf Raise
11. 5 minute cool-down on the Schwinn Airdyne

I was really just trying to learn the machines. Any set of twelve repetitions is really an indication that the weight was too light. I would like to find a weight where I can just manage eight repetitions and then work at that weight until I can get back to twelve. Stay at twelve for a few times — maybe three — and then increase the weight again.

Also, while I was doing my cool-down, I noticed that I missed a few machines that I had missed like the crunch and this thing where you squeeze your legs together. I’ll get those next time. I am going to try to go twice a week, but this week has strange hours since we are between sessions and the available hours conflict with some previous plans, so I’ll start a regular schedule next week.

À la niçoise — the name given to dishes from the region around Nice, in which the most common ingredients can include anchovies, olives, garlic, tomatoes, basil, lemon and/or capers. [Weber]

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Weber, Debra F.. “French Menu Terms ~ à la niçoise.” About French Cuisine. 10 May 2004. <frenchfood.about.com/b/a/084626.htm> (10 May 2004).

Breakfast was a cup of coffee, and a bowl of cold cereal. I weighed 157 pounds.

I had to run some errands, so I stopped at CC Pepper’s for a Coast to Coast Cheesesteak.

Dinner was Cornmeal Crusted Pan Fried Haddock with cayenne pepper, au gratin potatoes, pan fried asparagus with bacon and parmesan cheese, and a Saranac Pale Ale.

There is an all new Blogger with a whole host of new features. This journal may morf through many outrageous, unrecognizable forms before stabilizing. I thank you for your patience in this matter.

Breakfast was three cups of coffee and two chipped venison scrambled egg burritos. I weighed 157 pounds.

Lunch was 1½ quesadillas and a Saranac Pale Ale.

In the afternoon I had another Saranac Pale Ale.

Dinner was chicken-asparagus pot pie, potatoes au gratin, some crudite, some cherry cheesecake cupcakes, and a Saranac Pale Ale.

Lots of wildlife appears in the Spring around our house. Here, a pair of Flickers perform a mating dance. We are certain they are from the family of a breeding pair that nested in our yard last year. There were as many five cavorting about in the yard last year.

Also in the Spring, Gretchen likes to get her riding mare, Sungila, out and dust off the saddle for a first ride of the season.

Then, while I was taking pictures of Gretchen and Sungila with the orchard as a back drop, I noticed that an Oriole was enjoying the apple blossoms, as well. You will have to forgive the composition as the bird refused to pose. This is his underside and his head is pointing down and back into one of the apple blossoms.

Breakfast was a bowl of cold cereal and a cup of coffee. I weighed 157 pounds.

I went over and worked at the CSA this morning. We were pulling out the volunteer Jerusalem Artichokes from a bed that we are going to plant in tomatoes this year. They make lunch using their own produce for the people who come out to help. Today they had a bean salad with celery and cilantro, a potato salad with dill, steamed asparagus spears with a vinaigrette, a pea sprout salad also with a vinaigrette, and some wheat-free, dairy-free walnut brownies, with raspberry shrub to drink.

Gretchen did not realize that lunch would be served at the volunteer work weekend at the CSA, so when I got home I had lunch again since she had made homemade flour and whole wheat tortillas. We had bean and cheese quesadillas and a Saranac Pale Ale. Later in the afternoon after some yard work I had another Saranac Pale Ale.

Dinner was lo mien with a little fresh horseradish, two glasses of Walnut Crest Sauvignon Blanc, and some apple chips for dessert.

“Flowers have no effect on tuber production,” said Randy Smith, superintendent of the Aroostook Research Farm, an arm of the University of Maine, where spud growing is serious science. “Assuming disease is not a factor, small crops are usually a result of improper soil pH, or low fertility.”

“Potatoes are weeds,” he explained, “very vigorous, sturdy plants that will grow almost anywhere and stand up to a lot of abuse, but they will not produce big crops unless they have the right conditions.”

Potatoes prefer acid soil; a pH somewhere between 5.5 and 6 will work for most varieties, Mr. Smith said. And they must have a consistent source of nutrients.

Keep moving the potato patch, he advised, as diseases can linger in the soil for three to five years. And, he added, don’t forget that tubers all form above the seed piece. Be sure to hill up your plants (pile soil or straw around them as they grow). [Land]

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Land, Leslie. “Pretty With a Purpose.” The New York Times. 6 May 2004. <www.nytimes.com/2004/05/06/garden/06QNA.html> (7 May 2004).

Breakfast was French Toast and two cups of coffee. I weighed 157 pounds.

Lunch was the Panda Express orange chicken with mixed vegetables on chow mein noodles with hot and sour soup, and a fortune cookie.

A gathering of friends brings

you lots of luck this evening.

Lucky Numbers 1, 2, 5, 7, 40, 43

Dinner was creamed chipped venison with steamed asparagus tips over waffles and two beers.